I'm of the mind that most of the AK's are about the same. I know that some are better, and get better reviews, but at the end of the day they are still AK's. I have some ChiComs, a Maadi, a Hungarian SA85, and the Saiga. The Saiga is my favorite.

__________________NRA-Life
CRPA-LifeSAF-LifePEIAPOI

"Obama has ordered the launching of more Tomahawk cruise missiles than All the other Nobel Peace Prize winners combined."

I have a Saiga 308 with a 16 inch barrel here in CA. There is no requirement for a bullet button if you do not have a pistol grip. My Saiga, without a pistol grip, is just fine, although I may add one if I relocate to another state. Some things I have learned:
- The short barrel is great for easy maneuvering.
- Since Saiga is essentially an AK it wasn't designed for high quality American ammunition. As a result, a fireball is often created when firing that obscures your line-of-sight and requires re-acquisition of the target after each trigger pull. There is an add-on muzzle brake available (308 SAIGA SGM MUZZLE BRAKE) to solve this problem. Be sure to get a weapon with the required 3/16 inch clearance as described. This device requires no threading.
- UTG makes a great "quick detachable" rail mount (UTG978) which works perfectly and is relatively cheap.
- I bought my Saiga 308 in CA recently for $499... a tremendous value in my opinion.
- The weapon comes out of the box with a solid forend that may have a tendency to cause overheating of the barrel. I found a fluted forend that provides ventilation while also providing side and bottom rails. The beauty of it is that the rails themselves are detachable so that you can leave them them off if not required. In CA this allows you to leave the rails off until you add a forward grip to accompany a rear pistol grip. Saiga Forend – P/N RI-STK-SAIGAHGB - $49.99 (David's Collectibles Rifle Stocks)

Be aware that I am a firm believer in 308 over 223. But we'll save that for another post.